The present invention relates to evacuated medical devices, more particularly to an improved, vacuum type of device designed for the performance of a curettage or other similar type of medical procedure.
By way of background, and to place the present invention in proper perspective, it should be noted that evacuated medical devices for performing curettage and other types of medical procedures are known. These devices, like the present device, include an evacuated vessel to which is attached a medical implement, such as a cannula, with some form of valve means being employed to apply the vacuum to said implement.
The prior art designs, to the extent the inventors are aware, employ valve arrangements which have proven difficult to operate effectively in practice; are possessed of a rather short shelf life; and do not utilize means for indicating whether a sufficient vacuum is present. These deficiencies are overcome, to a significant extent, by the present invention.
The medical device of the present invention is not subject to the above-noted disadvantages, and also is possessed of numerous other advantages, as will become apparent from the following description of the drawings and detailed discussion of the illustrated embodiment. In this regard, it should be noted that a preferred form of the present invention will be discussed and illustrated; as such, said discussion and illustration is not intended to define the limits of the invention. In this regard, it is contemplated, and indeed envisioned, that those skilled in the art and possessed of the present disclosure, may devise various alternate structures, or constructions, or devise modifications, which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, which are defined by the claims appended thereto.